Comment: Why I left the Lib Dems for the Tories

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What a complete load of old crap. You only have to look at Tebbit, Duncan Smith, David Davis et al to see that this leopard will never change it’s spots. They’re still the same bunch of crusty, homophobic, selfish, self promoting biggots that they always were.They’re not just the “nasty party” they’re the “Evil Party”.

It is great to see how the party is changing and that others are recognising the fact.Maud seems to be holding some sort of grudge or from another party.There were many gay candidates at the last General Election for the Conservatives and there will certainly be more at the next election.Maud is out of date and wrong!

Perhaps Mr Porter could explain that if the Conservatives have changed, why did so many of them vote against the Equality Act to protect gay and lesbian people from discrimination last month?The Conservatives have not really changed at all. The voting behaviour of their MPs last month proved that.

I’m sure defecting must have seemed like a good idea at the time, but whether Porter admits it or not, I doubt he can be very impressed by his newfound party’s decision to oppose the Sexual Orientation Regulations en masse. Cameron is a convenient beard for a very dupious bunch of swivel eyed loons.As for the Lib Dems trying to be all things to all people – compared to David Cameron?! What a ridiculous thing to say!

Rik W., and Graeme, I’d be interested in hearing your response to William’s question.I was thinking the Conservatives had changed as well, as was seriously considering joining them, but last month’s Equalities vote was wake up call. It seems that the Conservatives are very interested in being PERCEIVED as changing and very interested in being PERCEIVED as having modernized and very interested in being PERCEIVED as being progressive on gay rights, but not so interested in actually BEING or VOTING accordingly among their rank and file.Maybe I’ve missed something. I’m open to suggestions as to why I have it all wrong. I don’t respond to spin or obfuscations though. Give me hard facts and specifics as to why so many Conservatives would vote against the Equalities proposal.

By the way, I’ve been living in America for the last few years and I hear the EXACT same arguments from gay Republicans (called Log Cabin Republicans) as to why gays should join the Republican party. The fact that people could be so delusional here makes me even more suspect when I hear the same arguments from gay Conservatives back home.Words are easy and worthless. Show me VOTES and show me ACTIONS if you want to get my support.

I’ve just had a look at the voting by MPs on the Sexual Equality Regulations (passed last month and became part of the Equality Act). 58% of Conservative MPs bothered to vote. 29 voted in favour and 83 voted against. 73.9% of Labour MPs bothered to vote. 248 voted in favour and 10 against. 52.4% of Liberal Democrat MPs bothered to vote. 29 in favour and 4 against. The numbers speak for themselves. To say the Conservatives support gay equality is simply not true. In fact it would appear to be a lie. The Sexual Orientation Regs were passed into law by the votes of Labour and LibDem MPs. The overwhelming majority of Conservative MPs OPPOSED them and voted against them. This is the reality no matter what David Cameron might like gay and lesbian people to believe. Thankfully, I get a vote too…at the next general election and council and EU elections. Having considered switiching my vote to Conservative, last month has shown me that they have not changed at all. They have lost my vote.

What a load of bollocks!! As long as Widdecombe, Duncan Smith and Tebbit in the background things will never change. As for Cameron, I think he’s smug and arrogant and hopefully will NEVER become prime minister……if he does and they get back into office Clause 28 will be back before they move into No. 10.

“Maud seems to be holding some sort of grudge or from another party.” Yes, I remember Thatcher, Major and the misery, persecution and suicides they caused. I also remember Duncan Smith, Widdecombe, Tebbit, Davis, Hague’s voting records – they’re in the public domain – go and look.”Maud is out of date and wrong!” No, I’m up to date and right. The Tories have only changed on the surface, their voting record proves that. The Tories are out of date and wrong, they live in the wrong century.And, for the record, I have no connections with any other party.

You can only paper over a crack if the underlying structure is sound. The Tory Party is rotten to the core so the thin make-over of Cameron and a few young faces won’t hold for very long. The damp, rotten substructure will soon show through.Not only do they vote against gay right (and these are basic human rights, not special privileges), they actively try to destroy the bills before they even get to the vote stage. When they stop doing that and start apologising for the decades of abuse I may be able to take them seriously. Until then they don’t deserve oxygen, never mind publicity.How any self-respecting gay person can support them is quite beyond me, it’s as freaky as the concept of a Jewish Nazi.

Richard should read the speeches and look at the voting record of Tories in the House of Lords on all the major equality issues to understand that what he says about the Conservative Party having become a party of tolerance is simply not true.

As a gay Conservative, I would like to welcome Richard to the Party.It seems, sadly, that the Lib Dems’ ‘trolls’ are out in force on this site.I am not going to pretend that life was easy under the last Conservative government, but we did lower the age of consent and legalise homosexuality in places like Gibraltar (to name just two achievements). Most of the current law originate from Europe, not New Labour. That said, credit where credit’s due.The result of the next election will be tight between David Cameron’s Conservatives and Brown’s Labour Party. It’s a new kind of politics – hope, change and optimism under David versus despair, stagnation and pessimism under Labour. Every knows the Ming Campbell’s Lib Dems are out of the race. The choice is yours.

Justin, you still haven’t found an excuse for the evil voting record of the MAJORITY of your party. You should be ashamed of yourself.According to your own blog, assuming you are the Justin Hinchcliffe who… “enjoy being with people and going out to get twated!”… (I think you mean twatted), you’re not old enough to really remember life under Thatcher, so your opinion on that particular subject isn’t relevant.Typical Tory-boy really, a Hooray Henry who is about to vanish up his own self-promoting arse.

Justin, you say:”The choice is yours.”Yes. It is. And I choose not to vote for a party who are self-evidently NOT gay-friendly in ANY way. As other posters have pointed out, look at the actions rather than the easy words. Look at the reality of what Cameron’s Concervatives do rather than what he says.All the rather juvenile deflection in the world – ‘Lib Dem trolls’ etc – in your post can’t hide the fact that you have NO answer to the voting record.Words versus actions. Simple as that.

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